Now,
Patman will be the absolute first to admit that, he don't know everythin'
there is to know about scooters.

But, if there's one little piece of the
puzzle you're missin', maybe you can find it here...maybe. If not, ask via
e-mail, & if anyone here has had experience with a similar situation
we'll share our tips & tricks...after all if ridin's easier, then it's
more fun !!

So how 'bout this one? Everybody who races or rides, off-road,
has probably put a pipe protector on before. So I figure you can do that.
But the other day that it occurred to me, that there might be a better way
than to beat the hell outta, my pipe & protector, with a hammer. Thus
loosening the pipe / cylinder seal, which may cause a pressure leak.

So, I present to you the Patman method for the initial forming of a
Moose Racing Type Pipe Protector. ( Moose offers one of the best ones on
the market )

Tip:

Starting at the small end, use a pair of levers (
in this case a couple of 3/8 socket wrench extensions ), to bend, or
twist, the protector around the curves of the pipe. I put it on the floor,
bend it a little, then fit it to the head pipe, then take it off, &
bend some more. Go one joint at a time, keeping the the protector flowing
smoothly along the pipe. It should touch everywhere, & a good fit will
stay on the pipe ( static ) with no clamps. As the pipe starts
to twist in a different direction, reposition the levers to make a smooth
twist in the protector. Again one joint at a time.

.

Tip:

Also pertaining to pipe protector installation. You can
smoothly widen / flatten the protector, for those "Fatty" type
pipes offered by FMF, by adjusting your bench vise to a point where the
jaws are not quite open as far as the protector is wide, & then
smackin; it with a hammer to force it over the outside of the vise jaws.
Use a piece of rubber to keep the hammer from marring the surface of your
new protector...the rocks will take care of that tomorrow !

Tip:

Ok, well what about this?

We all know that you should put Duct tape around your
rims to help prevent spoke nipple induced flats. But if ya wanna do a nice
job of cuttin' out the Valve stem, & Rim lock holes, check this.

Once the rim is clean, & you've got a couple of
layers of tape in the center ( Center only, of course ) of the rim, use an
8mm hex wrench, to twist back & forth in the hole against the tape.
The 8mm hex wrench, wont go through the holes but the twisting motion will
cut off the tape & make a clean hole. Now if your hole is larger or
smaller, use any hard object that will rub against the sides ( edges
) of
the hole without going through.

Click to enlarge of course.

Tip:

I know I don't have to tell ya how important it is to
put powder inside the tire, & all over the Heavy duty tube, right ?

We all know how powder allows the tube to move slightly
to help prevent abrasion flats, & sometimes the powder will allow the
tube to move outta the way of the rim, when it would've pinch flatted.
Oh yeah, while you wanna get the rim-lock snug, you might not wanna get
the valve stem not too tight, for fear that any movement might tear it.